Are you looking for new ways to better understand business and your place in the entrepreneurial world? Reading books is one of the best ways to gain knowledge and insight as an entrepreneur. In this article, we will share some of the books that the world’s most successful entrepreneurs read. Each of the books on this list contains great advice on how entrepreneurs can develop their hustle.
Best Business Books For Entrepreneurs
1. The Empathy Edge: Harnessing The Value Of Compassion As Engine For Success by Maria Ross
First on our list of best business books is Maria Ross’s game-changer. It’s normal to struggle with frustration and impatience in business. However, both of these emotions can make it harder to see things from someone else’s perspective. In The Empathy Edge, Maria Ross, a brand strategist, author, and speaker discusses the value of compassion in business.
She explains the importance of empathy both in leadership and customer satisfaction. She also puts emphasis on how leadership plays into brand development, company culture, and sustained financial gain. It’s an absolute necessity for both seasoned and newbie entrepreneurs.
Who should read this: anybody who wants to become a more compassionate and effective leader.
2. The Bezos Letters: 14 Principles To Grow Your Business Like Amazon by Steve and Karen Anderson
Most of us are familiar with Amazon and its CEO, Jeff Bezos, who also happens to be the richest person in the world. In this surprising book, Anderson goes through fourteen growth principles that Amazon uses every day. The information, gathered from Bezos’ personal letters to shareholders, is a feast of steps, lessons, and ideas that grew the multi-billion dollar company we know today.
Who should read this: any entrepreneur or CEO who is curious about how Jeff Bezos came up in the world, anyone who wants to take their own business to the next level. This is one of the best entrepreneur books on the market.
See also: Famous Entrepreneurs in Nigeria
3. Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
In this international bestseller, Sandberg, the chief operating officer (COO) of Facebook, restarts the conversation around women in the workplace. She takes on an important question. How do women unconsciously hold themselves back in their careers? In Lean In, Sandberg offers great advice on salary negotiation techniques, networking, and building satisfying professional and personal lives. She also shows how men can benefit by supporting their female counterparts both at work and at home.
Who should read this: anybody (gender doesn’t matter) who wants to improve their career and business growth and those of their colleagues; women who know that they have greater things to offer.
See also: Why women struggle to fund their start-ups
4. Good To Great: Why Some Companies Make The Leap And Others Don’t by Jim Collins
Good to Great answers the question: “Can a good company become great and if so, how?” Based on 5 years of research on Fortune 500 companies in the United States, Collins lays down the qualities observed in 11 companies whose performance in the stock market went from “okay” to amazing. These qualities are a surprising combination of competence, discipline and leadership. They are so well outlined that you’ll understand why this book appears on our list of best business books.
Who should read this: any entrepreneur who wants to breathe new life into their business.
See also: Cheap ways to promote your business as an entrepreneur
5. The Surprising Science Of Meetings: How You Can Lead Your Team To Peak Performance by Steven G. Rogelberg
I, like many others, have had colourful experiences with corporate meetings. I’ve had everything from impromptu 15-minute desk meetings to 3 hour-long standing meetings where everybody wants to speak and is happy to ignore the time. The Surprising Science of Meetings gives a scientific take on how to make business meetings more productive. Moreover, Rogelberg draws from research, analytics and thousands of employee surveys across diverse industries. This book provides wonderful practices you can follow as a team-lead for quality meetings.
Who should read this: team-leads and business-owners, anybody who cares about time management and productivity.
6. Virtual Freedom: How To Work With Virtual Staff To Buy More Time, Become More Productive And Build Your Dream Business by Chris Ducker
With the Covid-19 pandemic, many businesses are turning to remote work. Your office might even be one of these.
Chris Ducker is an outsourcing expert and “virtual” CEO. In Virtual Freedom, he gives a step-by-step guide for every entrepreneur who wants to build a business – working with remote or virtual employees. The book gives fascinating insights into how you can hire, train, and manage virtual assistants from the comfort of your home.
Additionally, there are some of us who started a business from our kitchen table and don’t have an office space yet. If this is you, Virtual Freedom teaches you how to hire remote workers who can take on some of the workloads and keep you from getting overwhelmed.
Who should read this: work-from-home entrepreneurs whose businesses are growing quickly; everybody thinking of starting a company from their kitchen table.
See also: Work From Home Tips That Help Productivity
7. Africa – The Ultimate Frontier Market: A Guide To The Business And Investment Opportunities In Emerging Africa by David Mataen
This book is an investor’s guide to African business trends over 50 years. It offers insight into what these trends might mean for the future. Mataen, a scholar in African investing, lays out the keys on which entrepreneurs and investors should direct focus. These are Agriculture, Real Estate, consumer retail, financial services, manufacturing, and others. Even though published in 2012, Mataen’s book is still relevant to businesses in sub-Saharan Africa today.
Who should read this: entrepreneurs and investors in Africa seeking new opportunities and working to maximise their profits in the long run.
8. Reaching Millions With Impact by Ndidi Okonkwo Nwueli
Another ‘best business books’ winner, Ndidi Okonkwo Nwueli is the founder of Leap Africa and co-founder of AACE Food Processing & Distribution. Reaching Millions with Impact is an inspiration for innovators who hope to have a social impact with their work. It is a practical guide for those in both profit and non-profit sectors who want to address social problems like healthcare, transportation, and technology in Africa. It also offers key advice on how to find and retain talent in your business.
Who should read this: the innovators, the dreamers and the stakeholders who want to support social change.
9. 10X Marketing Formula: Your Blueprint For Creating ‘Competition-Free Content’ That Stands Out and Gets Results by Garrett Moon
This one is for all the content marketers out there who have been dreaming about driving more traffic to their page. 10X Marketing Formula provides clear steps on how to deal with time management and a scant online audience. Garret Moon, who went from 0 to 1.3 million page views in only 4 years, shows you how to overcome your own roadblocks in content marketing. As an entrepreneur, this is a great book to discover how to build an effective content marketing strategy.
Who should read this: online marketers, bloggers and entrepreneurs who want an online presence.
See Also: 8 Reasons Why Your Company Needs Content Marketing
10. Dare To Become A Success- Lessons From Ants by Mulenga C. Kasoma
“You want to be a success? Give your best. Don’t settle for mediocrity. Go for excellence. Don’t just do what is convenient, go the extra mile. The extraordinary rewards and benefits are found in the extra mile. Don’t settle for good when you have the potential to be great,” Kasoma says. In Dare to Become a Success Mulenga Kasoma, a teacher, entrepreneur, and the founder of ESTROGEN magazine, arms you with the tools to try again and accomplish shattered dreams in both your business and personal life.
Who should read this: This book is fantastic for anyone who has tried and failed in the past but is determined to try again.
Conclusion
As you start and begin to develop your journey in entrepreneurship, you need to continue to develop your knowledge. One of the best ways to grow your insights is by reading books. The books listed above are some of the best books that entrepreneurs read for self development.
Have you read any of these awesome books? Let us know in the comments which one you plan to read next.
